Language choice - by Theo

Conversation No 1: Kate and Rosie in the car

R: Hay barcos!
K: Donde? No hay agua aqui.
R: Si. Hay lago.

Conversation No 2: Theo and Roise at home

T: Que hiciste hoy?
R: Fuiste al parque, con mama.
T: Tienes que decir "fui al parque."
R: Fui al parque.
T: Bien. Jugabas sobre los columpios?
R: Y el tobogan!

Conversation No 3: Theo and Rosie in the park.

T: Quieres bajar el tobogan?
R: No, I want to sit on the swing-swing.
T: Quieres jugar sobre el columpio, de acuerdo. Y pues, quererias ir al lago para ver los patos?
R: Go and see the ducks! OK!

It's interesting that Rosie seems to have a worked out that, when in public, it is better to speak English even when spoken to in Spanish, as it increases the likelihood that she will be understood.

Reflections of us - by Theo

It's often one of the first things people do upon meeting our daughter - decide which of us (Kate and I) she most resembles. Thankfully, most people agree that there is more of Kate reflected in Rosie than me. A relief I think you'll all agree, but here's some baby photos so you can decide for yourself.

Theo:

Kate (with her little sister Becky) :
Rosie:
As you can see, there is definitely more of Kate in Rosie than me.

It's not just in looks that Rosie reflects her mother; in language too. Naturally enough, as Rosie spends more time with Kate than she does with me, her emerging speech patterns reflect her mother's more than they do mine. Hence in recent days the phrases "Come on then" ("cumonden") and "Shall we?" ("shallee") have regularly rung out around the house, while the previously contracted "stad!" has finally lengthened out to the full "it's Dad!" These aren't full sentences, or at least Rosie doesn't conceive them as such; it's too early in her linguistic development for that. Rather they are simply phrases and collocations that Kate regularly uses and sound to Rosie like polysyllabic words. So, just as she reflects her mother in looks, so she echoes her in speech.

Sadly this has meant that common Spanish phrases - vamos, venga, muy bien, que quieres?, donde estas? - have yet to be uttered, as it's mostly me that uses them. However recently Rosie has been using toma ("take") and gracias ("thank you") more or less correctly. Mas o menos.

"The Pasty" - by Theo

The photo, I feel speaks for itself. It was Rosie's first ever pasty and thus, as far as she was concerned, 'the' pasty.

Rosie has, quite hilariously, discovered the definite article. "The", accompanying practically every noun, English or Spanish, is now a common feature of Rosie's burgeoning vocabulary. It also does strange things to the following word, making the vowel longer and drawn out, and thus increasing the comedy value. So whereas before she would have just pointed at her bed and chirped out a clipped, terse, short-voweled "Cot" (or "Cuna") now it becomes a plaintive, urgent, portentous "THE CO-OT!" In this particular instance she is of course grammatically correct, but versions such as "The Papa" or "The Fork" or even "The Mano" ("no, Rosie, tienes que decir 'La Mano'") are also regularly produced.

Nothing, though, is quite so hilarious as when she wails, like one in terror of a dreaded and yet inevitable doom, "The Poo!"

Rosie's talk - by Theo (chanelling Pat Hutchins)

Rosie the toddler went for a walk.

She walked through the "parque". Around the "agua". Over the "ball". Past the "doggle-oggle". Through the "door". Under the "bees" and got back in time to shout "dame!"

Rosie's speech is coming along rapidly, in both English and Spanish, from maybe only 10 words at the beginning of July to more than 50 now. She still expresses herself in single words, which are not always used correctly, as can be seen in this video from the morning we left Madrid.

"Dame" ("give me" in Spanish) gets used as a general expression of desire (e.g. "open", "take", "lift") rather than its more specific meaning. Meanwhile, pretty much anything with floppy ears and a tail is a "doggle-oggle" or a "oof-oof" (except for cats which are "miaow-miaows"). It's interesting which language she chooses - for example she says "agua" rather than "water" and "mas" rather than "more" but "please" rather than "por fa'" and "glasses" rather than "gafas". Some words could go either way - "yo-go" could just as easily be "yoghurt" as "yogur". Other words only get used in certain situations - for example, when pretending to answer the phone Rosie will say "si, si, si" but otherwise never comes out with the Spanish for "yes". There doesn't seem to be a pattern however, and so far she hasn't learned many equivalent words in both languages (except Mama/Mummy; Papa/Daddy and usefully, pi-pi/wee-wee and poo-poo/ka-ka). It's funny what words she picks up though - she says "cool" a lot, something she obviously gets from Kate and I, while earlier this evening she clearly articulated something that she definitely hadn't heard us say (ahem): "f*ck it!"